A Lebanese-born man who shot at young Chasidic Jewish children on a bus on the Brooklyn Bridge in March 1995, killing a 16-year-old boy and seriously wounding several others, has admitted that his aim was “to kill Jews”.

He previously refused to give a reason.

He is already serving a prison sentence of over 100 years for murder, so the new information will not be used to pursue a further hate crime charge, prosecutors say.